The following story is true but written with tongue firmly planted
in check. Those who know me will confirm that I have managed to
injure myself in some of the most interesting ways but still maintain
a sense of humor and acknowledge that I am just plain accident prone.
For the last 3-4 years I have been looking for a 16-18" lapidary
(rock) saw that was within my budget. Through an acquaintance who
knew a guy I found one in Hill City, Kansas. I called and heard what
the owner thought was wrong with the saw and found the price was in
my budget. So like a shot I was on the road to Hill City the next
day. Upon arrival I was shown the saw and the condition was much
better than I expected and it was a Highland Park J2 18" saw. The
holy grail of lapidary heads who appreciate older well built
equipment. I didn’t bother to haggle because the price was more than
right and it only needed the guides polished and possibly a new
motor. And I don’t possess a poker face and was grinning ear to ear
and had a steady flow of drool while looking at the saw.
So with the help of a couple of strong young men from the local
drilling company my saw was loaded and I was on my way home. These
saws are industrial quality and weigh over 600 lbs.
So the next day I was impatient to get my saw unloaded and start
working on it. Knowing I could have called some strong friends to
help, but I’m the type that hates to impose on people. So I devised a
way I could unload the saw with the help of my 15 year old son and my
daughter’s boyfriend. I backed my truck to the driveway with the back
tires in the gutter. Then I put two 8 foot 2x10 planks leading from
the tailgate of my truck to the driveway. The combination of my truck
tires in the gutter and the upwards slope of the driveway resulted in
a gentle angle to maneuver the saw down. We managed to get the saw on
two furniture dollies. While starting the saw down the 2x10’s I
neglected to have someone hold the 2x10’s to prevent them from
slipping off. Well the plank on my side slipped off the tailgate
that I was standing on and the next thing I knew I was landing flat
on my back on the driveway smacking my head soundly on concrete. I
managed to minimize the damage to the saw by breaking its fall by
having my right leg between it and the driveway.
Once the stars stopped swirling in my head I scrambled to my feet,
“I broke my saw!” Fortunately the only damage was to the sheet metal
hood. It had a dent the shape of my right knee. My son kept insisting
on taking me to the hospital but I assured him I was fine. A mere
flesh wound. So we managed to right the saw, get it back on the
dollies, and get it into the garage. The dent came out with a few
raps of a rubber mallet. I was still thinking I’m OK just a little
sore.
I went in the house to tell my wife about my experience. She asked,
“Who was helping me?” I responded, “Derick (my son) and Andrew (my
daughter’s boyfriend).” Which she responded, “And just who was
watching your grandson?” I gritted my teeth and responded, “He is
asleep. Thanks for your concern.”
So I puttered around cleaning up my saw, polishing the saw guides,
and correcting the faulty wiring that was the root cause of the
problem with the saw. I then went inside and sat down for about an
hour reading email. The whole time my son and wife kept insisting
that I go to the hospital. “I’m fine. Just a little sore.”, I
reassured them.
Well, then I tried to get out of my chair and was greeted by
blinding pain from a combination of muscle spasms in my back and
resulting bruised tissue from the fall and impact of the saw. So I
announced to my family that I was ready to go to the hospital now.
So off to the emergency ward. I didn’t have to wait long for the
triage nurse to interview me and give me a couple Vicoden and order
x-rays. Well as you probably know the emergency ward is also the only
medical help for those without health insurance and no means to pay
for visit’s to the doctor. So wait we did. As long as I didn’t move I
was just fine in my Vicoden haze. It took a long time for the
emergency room doc and radiologist to read my x-rays. You see I have
9 vertebrae fused together from a auto accident where I drove off the
side of a mountain and landed 300 ft below with my truck on top of me
(1976) and while working as a carpenter (my first career) I fell
three stories (1980). So the emergency room doc said I didn’t break
anything new and prescribed a huge dose of Demerol injected and wrote
prescriptions for muscle relaxers and pain pills and sent me home.
His parting words were, “You know someone with your kind of medical
history really shouldn’t be moving heavy pieces of equipment.” I
responded, “Really? Why not?”
My new saw is now running 16 hours a day cutting slabs. I’m just
about back to normal, as normal as I can be. And in case you are
curious, the driveway concrete was undamaged from the impact of my
head.
Rick Copeland
Silversmith and Lapidary Artisan
Colorado Springs, Colorado
rockymountainwonders.com
